Saturday Night: The Wedding

When we got back from the Art Institute we were pretty beat. Thankfully we got to relax about an hour though before we had to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was at the same church where our friends Drew & Jaimee got married in the spring of 2002, and when we started thinking it through we realized that was the last time we spent a weekend in Chicago together as well. But what a weekend that was... it was just before we got married ourselves, and we were in an even nicer hotel than the Marriott where we stayed this weekend (thanks again Mom).

At any rate, Randall & Maria's wedding was great, and the reception and post-reception night life was a riot. We did call it an earlier night than most though, as we hoped to get up early and get home to the little man. And of course relieve Dad & Tina, not that they needed it, but more because it was just time for everyone to go home.

Saturday Afternoon: The Art Institute

Believe it or not, we got up and attacked the day on Saturday. Jodi and I went out for a great breakfast, then we had to meet the Sefciks at the Art Institute... well I used my trusty iPhone (thanks again, Dad) 'maps' feature (basically, a GPS) to figure out that the Institute was just over a mile away from where we were. It was a gorgeous sunny day, if a little cold, so I figured I'd keep this little fact to myself, and start us out walking. My original goal was to see how far I got before my little Princess noticed that I didn't seem to be stopping for a cab. ;-) Actually, Jodi was a great sport and we had a really nice walk down Michigan Avenue. We spent a couple hours at the Institute, and it's a place I really love (I hadn't been since my 'sabbatical' from work the first half of 1998). The Impressionist section is what I really go for, but there's a ton more to it than that. And I like that it's one of the places where the characters in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" spend their afternoon when they're playing hooky. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, but I admit we did take a cab back to the hotel!

Our Big Weekend!

Several months ago we were invited to a "Hope" wedding (the groom is a buddy from school) in Chicago, and we've been looking forward to this weekend ever since. My Dad and Tina came up early Friday so we could get on the road, and it was our first weekend away from the boy! We got down to Chicago at a decent hour Friday night, then went to dinner with the Sefciks, who came in all the way from Denver. We hadn't seen each other for just over a year, so we made the most of it. We had dinner at this great seafood and steak place right near our hotel (http://www.icon.com/joes/Chicago_home.html), then took a cab up to the John Hancock for drinks and dessert at The Signature Room (http://www.signatureroom.com/), which is the restaurant and bar on the 95 and 96th floors--the observation deck is down at 94 even. From there we met up with the wedding party at some bar in between Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville (at least that's where it seemed like we were to me). It was a great night out, and a great start to the weekend.

Hope v. Calvin Part II

Their final regular season game was at Hope, and I've probably mentioned my brother and I have season tickets to all the home games at the new DeVos Arena. This game wasn't a contest like the last one... I think we were up a record 26 points at half time, and won by maybe 16. I'll take it.

Another Holland Visit.

We were in Holland again the weekend of February 16. We went to the cottage to check on progress, then to Skiles for pizza, then to the game. Hope beat up on Alma, but that was to be expected as Hope is headed for another MIAA championship.

Connor: The Holly Sessions.

Holly took some photos a couple Fridays ago when she babysat for Connor and let us go out for dinner. We went to Sam's Joint (Alaska) but weren't very impressed with it... I did get the ribs though!

Snowmobiling with Okma!

Every year (OK, this is the second year, but we've got a tradition started!) my buddy Matt Okma and I go snowmobiling in Allegan county, near where he lives in Hamilton. Last year we had a bit of an incident with one of us getting separated from the other (but we won't point any fingers here) and it resulted in the one of us ending up in Wayland, so far east that I had gone over US-131 and was actually headed back to Caledonia, near where I live. Well not this year! This year we hardly had any mishaps at all, and some would even say we had none (it depends on who you talk to and how technical you want to get). We start in Hamilton, then take the trail south and mostly east to a resaurant / bar called Hilliards where we have lunch (it's quite glamourous; don't let the photo fool you). It's home after that, and makes for a full day on the trails. As a side note, we pass Sandy Pines each way. That's kind of cool since Jodi and I went there one weekend last fall for her birthday... as guests of... Matt & Tammy Okma!